This is the kind of intensity I try to bring to each training session. This particular set was the last of that night and to date it still stands as the most brutal set I have ever done, I was physically sick afterwards (something I've never had happen to me before)

There's 286lb of weight plates on each side, the sled weighs 118lb and my training partner is also adding bodyweight resistance for the first few reps at the start. You can see my legs starting to give out towards the end but I try and keep the reps as full/deep as I can manage. It's great to watch it now but it was hell at the time !!

Mini Forklift Ⓥ wrote:This is the kind of intensity I try to bring to each training session.

Your level of intensity in the gym is amazing and it definitely carries over into how you talk about your training. Seriously inspirational log you've got going here, mate, and I love reading every update.

In fact, your last run-through of leg presses after those squats made my jaw drop a little bit - like we talked about in my log, doing anything after heavy squats is pretty taxing and repping that many plates on your last set - seriously admirable and impressive.

Question: how do your knees feel after leg extensions? I was doing them for a while but cut them out of my routine because of how thrashed they make my knees feel. Tips, advice?

vegansludge wrote:Question: how do your knees feel after leg extensions? I was doing them for a while but cut them out of my routine because of how thrashed they make my knees feel. Tips, advice?

Thanks guys, firstly for all of the comments and the fact that I apprciate you stopping by to check out what I do

Leg extensions, I know what you mean although I have never (touch wood) experienced any knee pain or problems from doing them. Having said that I am aware of the stress that they can put on the knees, which is why I only really do them as a pre-exhasut/warmup exercise. You will notice that I never go above 100lb on them and the reps are always on the higher side; I like to do them as a warmup before squatting to simply get some blood into the quads and to try and prepare my legs a little for what they're about to endure.

Occasionally I'll do them at the end of the workout but again it would never be with heavy weights. Also with leg extensions I never emphasise the 'lockout' portion of the movement; this is where the stress of the weight is directly transferred to the knees, so I'll keep the reps fluid, always moving and this ensures constant tension on the quadriceps & vastus medialis.

So my advice to you I guess would be:

a) Do them as a warmup or cooldown exercise with light-moderate weight and higher reps b) Great exercise to use with FST-7 training at the end of your workoutc) A good exercise to superset with, again keep the weight stack on the lighter sided) Keep your reps moving ~ don't emphasise the 'lockout' when your legs reach the horizontal position

You look fantastic, mate - separation in your pecs is insane, which you can really see in the first picture, your biceps look beastly, you look like one giant "V" which means your pretty proportional. The only area that might be advantageous to improve would be your lats - though it could just be the angle that leads me to say that you might want to add some length to them. Even that, though, is a minor detail - your physique is the product of extreme dedication and intense work and it shows. You look exactly like what a powerlifter should look like - excellent work.

I had a question by PM, thought I would address it here as I believe the information is useful for anyone that is thinking of doing a Powerlifting meet...

TBar wrote:Hey MF, as I am getting more serious about doing a powerlifting meet I was wondering how your training changes to make sure you peak for the meet.Do you cycle %, Dynamic/Max effort, Progressively increase load, etc..? What about making weight for weigh in, how do you apprach that? Thanks

Personally, I like to use an 11wk approach if it's a regular, 3 lift meet. 10 hard training weeks and then the 11th week (1 week out from the meet) will be pretty much no training, maybe a little light weights and/or cardio if I need to drop a few pounds. Training wise, I believe that if you are a more advanced trainer (have been in the gym for a few years and have a good grasp on nutrition) then you should probably be 'cycling' your poundages week by week rather than linear periodisation or just trying to go heavy every week. That is not how you continually gain strength; your body needs to work through varying rep ranges with different poundages so you develop a density and power to your muscle fibres, as well as engraining the movements into your neuromuscular system. This is why in 11 months I was able to progress from a deadlift PB of 308 to 418lb.

Bodyweight wise, through experience and trial & error I can safely drop 5-6lb in the week before without it seeming to affect my strength; I'll swap out my heavier foods for lighter ones, manipulate my water intake and then about 48hrs out I'll start drinking some Alpine Tea (senna/cascara) and take some herbal diuretics.

After weigh in you usually get a couple of hours before lifting, so I'll get stuck into the fluids, some salty food (helps to retain water) and just generally eat what I can whilst remaining comfortable. This will bring my energy levels back up and I'll probably gain at least 3 or 4lb in between weigh in and the start of the meet.

I've just entered a meet at short notice, it's only a push/pull but here's how I'm going into this one:

Hope this all makes sense? I have tried to keep it as simple as I could, it's written as a combination or experience, finding out what repeatedly works and yields the best results and is an optimal, safe way to a approach an upcoming competition

Hard work and dedication = results. Nice to see you being a great example of that concept.

Thank you Robert, a real honour coming from someone such as yourself

So I'm having a good day of eating as it's my heavy training week and deadlifts are up tonight. Hoping that I won't be pulling too far off 200kg/440lb, we'll see what happens. Will be a late night session once the kids are up in bed, dinner was spicy mushroom balls with coconut rice and veges plus a banana and a nectarine. The mushroom balls is one of my favourite dishes from a local vegan restaurant close to my work.

Will type up the training session later, hope you all have a great Friday MF.